Our Approach

What We Believe

Our core philosophy, and our approach to financial planning and investment management, is guided by a few essential common sense principles. Our principles are no industry secret, and in fact, they are quite simple. The challenge to most investors is not understanding these principles, it is remaining confident, disciplined, and patient while focusing on the variables which are in your control. Learn more about our investment approach.

Evidence-Based Investment Philosophy

What to do When the Only ‘Known’ is the Unknown

Our philosophy is to participate in the growth of global capital markets through all conditions. We believe that broad diversification is key; that costs matter; and that markets serve investors efficiently the majority of the time.

A conventional, predictive approach to investing might involve reading the economy, the market, geo-politics and company outlooks as if they were tea leaves. Then, investments would be chosen based on their predicted outperformance. At Woodstone Financial, our philosophy is based on the evidence which shows there is little advantage, if any, to following a conventional approach. We believe that markets are unpredictable and that investor behavior has the greatest impact on long-term growth.

Our investment philosophy adheres to a few simple, evidence-based principles, which operate in tandem with prudent investor behavior:

We believe that markets work, and that long-term participation in their growth is key

We believe that risk and return are related

We believe that diversification across asset classes and global markets is essential

We believe that asset allocation, matched to our client’s goals, defines most performance over time.

We believe in the use of structured portfolios that are designed to capture returns delivered by key elements of global capital markets.

We believe that investor behavior has a significant impact on long-term results.

Knowledge, Confidence, Discipline

The Building Blocks For a Long-Term Approach

Many of our core principles are simple in theory, but they are not always easy to follow in practice when faced with complex issues and emotions. We believe in a disciplined approach to wealth management and we understand that staying disciplined is not always easy. Woodstone’s role as your advisor is to provide you with the knowledge and experience needed to build confidence. If you have confidence in how capitals markets work over time, you will be more disciplined. As a result, you will be more likely to stick with your philosophy during challenging times.

Signal vs. Noise

Things That Matter...And Everything Else

Our belief is to focus on the things that you can control. We all live in a world of constant news and information. We call it noise. It is difficult to determine what is actually meaningful information in a 24 hour a day cycle of advertisements and messages that are asking you to question your decisions. We believe in filtering out the information and variables over which you have no control- the noise. Instead, we strive to identify and act on those things in your control-the signal. By focusing in on those things that you can control we believe you can more consistently build a plan aligned with your most important goals.